Northern View: New Approach to Homelessness Issue

First, decent safe housing is key to solving this problem. I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to move into a century-old rat-infested fire trap of a building like the ones we see in East Vancouver, that may or may not have running water and heat every day.

But if, and this is a big if, decent housing is available, along with access to rehab programs and mental health counselling, I think we then need to take a more forceful approach to protect people who are a harm to themselves and others, who arguably are not often in the best position to make positive decisions for themselves, who have proven to be a threat to businesses and their customers, and in particular we need to incarcerate repeat offenders who it seems know they can keep committing crimes with little consequences in British Columbia.

A more forceful approach where individuals would have to go to rehab, get the help they need, would significantly reduce drug overdoses, alleviate the unsustainable demand on our first responder services like police and ambulance and on our hospital emergency rooms which are all stretched to the limit.

Because I don’t agree with the assumption that people have an undeniable right to inhabit or live on our downtown streets, once they have crossed that line and become a proven public safety risk.

Because the streets of our cities belong to all of us, and it’s time we considered the rights of business owners and their employees, who should be able to work and succeed, and the public who should be able to enjoy and support their downtown core without fear for their safety.

Editors note: The views expressed in this column do not necessarily represent the views of Pattison Media.

by Chris Beach

Northern View: New Approach to Homelessness Issue

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